Cry me a river...

Apparently this is also Susan Boyle on a CD made a few years ago for charity. I hope it is her as it's amazing and now I can sleep at night knowing that she definitely has an enduring talent...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8r9lRJ6yHY

Stupid blogger won't let me embed.

Also a great song.

The school I worked at before heading over to Scotland produced a very classy version of Les Mis just before I left. It broke my heart then and "Drink with Me" became a wee anthem for Scotland after I left (probably because the Les Mis songs were all in my head when I first arrived in Scotland).

This one also strikes a chord: the dream

I Dreamed A Dream lyrics

There was a time, when men were kind
And their voices were soft
And their words were inviting
There was a time, when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they turn your hope apart
As they turn your dreams to shame
He slept a summer by my side
He filled my dreams with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'd come to me
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So different from the hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

Read that, watch it again and try not to cry!

The dream

Heard about this a few days ago then finally saw a quick snippet on the news the night before last. Finally had the chance to check it out on YouTube last night and ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg

Amazing. I have cried my eyes out each time I have seen it. Such an unlikely candidate by the world's standards, and the looks on the faces of the audience -that young girl rolling her eyes - and she just stood up there, almost oblivious, and shut them all up.

Over 20 million hits on YouTube and broadcast around the world. I hope that she goes on to great things. AND she's Scottish. Scots wa' hae! Alba gu brath!

The look on Simon Cowell's face! And that 'megatalent' (as described in the Herald!) Amanda Holden...lol! My favourite was the guy on the other end. At least he had the grace to be ashamed of his earlier thoughts. Ant n Dec were hilarious.

Oh SIMON!

Goes to show that even in the most unlikely of places...and how quickly we can idolise people with internet and gadgetry. Still, it is brilliant to see someone who doesn't fit the image blow them all away.

Go Susan.

Little Audrey says...while the sun is out make hay...

I uncovered a stash of all video cassettes the other day that had found their way under our house from the shed at Mum's. Some of them, like Veggie Tales, are great. Others are a little hair-raising...old 1930s cartoons that are racist, sexist, condescending and some are downright frightening and most are just plain WRONG. My daughter was in tears in two of them!

There are some really dark and quite disturbing themes in these 'toons. Little Audrey in "Song of the Birds" is one. Who the hell lets a preschooler run around with a loaded shotgun??!! My daughter was absolutely distraught watching this - when the bird died she was almost sobbing. Had to sit with her until the end for him to come back to life and completely mess up her psyche...

Classic cartoons blog has some great stills from the cartoon (better quality images than my video copy!). Poor little boidy...

Aud's shoots the boid...

Mummy boid weeps over her wittle boidy...

The funeral - even the moon weeps...

Audrey smashes her gun and offers ACME style seed after the baby boidy comes back to life...

On that note (and I don't know why this would be linked to the Maaaatt Daaaamon clip, but anyhow)...(Maaatt Daaamon...hehehe)...here is an early advertisement for Jello. I say, speaking of racism, let's get the creators of Tellytubbies up here to explain themselves!

Jello ad

What the hell? Shocking advert for face cream.

Maaaattt Daaaammonn

Okay just one more...seriously, this one brought tears to my eyes. In fact I am laughing and crying right now just thinking about it. I can't even put my finger on exactly why it is funny...except Maaaattt Daaammmonnn..ahahahahaha




Oh dear, it really shouldn't be so funny, but I am dying!

"Oh swish!"

With thanks to http://girlgetstrong.com/wordpress/ for this ... Hilarious! Why do we not speak like that anymore? It's a damn shame, I tell you!

This was my grandmother's era - no wonder she locks and bolts the doors and windows at night...the changes from then to now, to have lived through it all.

I've never really been a huge fan of Youtube. I like the concept but I can't stand the pauses as clips download...however have to find clips about digital literacy for an assignment so have an excuse to go searching...

In the midst of study

a picture I found after googling "mad librarian"...:)

It resembles my current state of mind as I am in the middle of assignments...just got my 2nd one finished at the end of last week (already late as I'd had my computer die the week before). I went to submit it electronically, only to discover that my perception that an online course would involve online submission of assignments was a product of my imagination - they still have to be posted! Of course it was right before Good Friday and Easter Monday public holiday so all that furious last minute scribbling and the dratted thing is STILL sitting here with me!

cast of the ABC series "The Librarians"

Two of my other assignments are meant to be uploaded to a wiki/blog/website. Group work can be a pain but it is still infinitely more absorbing than typing 2000 words about something someone else said. I have been spending a bit of time reacquainting myself with Twitter and setting up a ning group for the Master of Ed (Teacher-Librarian) students - trying to get a few more together for study sessions and to discuss assignments. So far Krista and I seem to be the only ones foolish enough to study full-time so perhaps that's why we're so panicked (well, I am at least!) about assignments and keen to chat to others about it.

Here is the ning group. So far there are just 3 of us, but I know the rest of the class are just dying to be in our gang and will join soon...:P

And here is my plan for getting through the rest of the course:

What do you mean, how is that a plan? An army of highly trained, highly literate kittens, who will be able to research and put together dazzling professional critiques??

Hahaha, funny how stress is already in my list of tags!

Another cup of tea, love?

Oh yes please. I've definitely had more than half a dozen cups today...as well as a cappucino whilst passing on the baton to Mum down the street (the baton being my darling girl :)

Trying to get my first major assignment organised for my Masters...amidst dire computer issues. I have some sort of Internet Explorer problem: after a random amount of time online, I receive a Microsoft error message. If I click "Don't Send", it immediately shuts down any web pages I have open. If I click "Send" it really starts looking like a virus and starts asking me personal questions etc. Oh, and it also started redirecting me to random pages from google searches...

I have spent the better part of the last month trying to sort the damn problem out via a flurry of emails with my Antivirus provider (BullGuard, if you're interested). I've been with them since I bought the laptop in 2006 and I don't recall ever having a problem in that time.

I couldn't afford (the time OR money) to put the thing in for servicing and as it was dated and not keeping up with the workload anyway, I bought a new one (an EEE PC which I will introduce another time!). Technically it was courtesy of Kevin Rudd's stimulous package but as that also helped pay the rates and new tyres and car servicing I may also owe my credit card provider some love...oh I hate being poor!

Anyway: sadly I managed to screw up and transfer the virus to the eee pc *sad face* so I am still suffering...thankfully the lecturer has been understanding of my plight and granted me a few days grace to finish the assignment (which I am flaunting by posting on here but technically it is related to the course so it counts as hard work :)

Back to the digital revolution: the article I have chosen for the paper is on pop culture pedagogy and the possible end of school as we know it. I have found some fascinating info on possible schools of the future and whether there will be any schools at all! Will have to come back later to provide links as the Internet Explorer error message has popped up and will probably shut me down soon!

Unemployment and filling the time

Have started my Masters of Education. I am going to be a Teacher-Librarian (or just a plain librarian it will qualify me for either).

So far:

LIKES
Learning about lots of whizzy fandangled cyberspace gadgets (finally getting an excuse to try out Second Life...as if the First One isn't busy enough)
Having an excuse to loiter in a school library
...and on the internet!
Getting in touch with others who are interested in the same things.
Hope: that I am finally on the right path and anticipation at the lovely library jobs I might one day have!

DISLIKES
Stupid, bloody irritating annoyingly offputting virus that latched onto my computer during a recent sojourn at my cousins. Perfect bloody timing! Everytime I logon to the net I get a Microsoft Error message which promptly shuts down the web. And I keep getting redirected to junk advertisements! I've never had a proper virus before so this is a whole new world of PAIN!
Having to READ so much guff. Some of the academic language they use in the articles we have to read is so POINTLESS and irritating!
Computer headache :(

I am happy to be on the course. It lasts for 12 months and at the end I will be a qualified librarian. The Masters will give me a few more points for the visa to get back into the UK but I still have to head back there before my 30th birthday. Which means teaching in Asia (or somewhere) is still on the cards.

The job I was looking at over the Summer did not work out so now I have to wait until the Aug/Sept round. Good thing is I can study this course from anywhere in the world, so I can still apply for jobs o/seas. Bad news is that apparently the economic downturn has caused many schools to put a freeze on recruitment. As my recruiters already consider me 'difficult to employ' this is going to make things interesting...although one recruiter did tell me that it may mean international schools will now be more open to one year contracts, which is FANTASTIC for me!

I've also read that in the UK school system, Miss M will be eligible to start proper school after her 4th birthday, which, unfathomably, is this September!

The land of the long white cloud

It must be the desperation of being just that little bit closer to 30, but I subjected myself to another futile flurry into job possibilities in NZ: hostel jobs mainly, as teaching jobs seem difficult to come by when I'm still in Oz and I can't consider moving over reliant on 'supply' when I have a daughter in tow.

I think I must have emailed every single hostel in the country outlining my explaining and trying not to sound too desperate :) Alas, this move turned out to be a BAD one, especially considering my current state of mind: I spent the next week deleting rejection after rejection from my Inbox...Nobody wants a 3 year old staying in their hostel.

Now for the rant: I realise wanting to bunk down with hordes of drunken, smelly 18 - 30 somethings with a preschooler is possibly a bit unusual, however, having managed a hostel myself, and having parents and grandparents who have been and still are in a similar industry, it is one of the few jobs that I perceive as 'do-able' with a toddler/preschooler in tow. If I had the money I'd buy my own bloody hostel and show them how it's done...but alas.

I had a lot of strange replies too - some would take the coward's way out and tell me they'd filled the position, then I would see it readvertised almost immediately on the BBH site! Others told me they couldn't spare an extra bed (although I'd specifically mentioned that daughter and I would share a bed!) and so many told me that their hostel was 'not family friendly' yet they had 'family friendly' written all over their website!!!! Understandable, but infuriating nonetheless. I really thought that amongst all of the hostels there might be one, just ONE who would give us a chance.

I also applied for a management position with YHA NZ, but rejection was waiting in the wings here as well. At least they allowed me the dignity of a reply...there is nothing more humiliating and annoying than putting hours...sometimes DAYS into a job application (and in some cases I've also done an interview!!) and then have no response from the company/school/government department. I think I've already ranted about the job in Tasmania, but if not, remind me later and I'll let you in on their incompetence!

The best job in the world...?

Oh my Lord...some of you may have seen this on the news or perhaps the advert on tv. I was on Lonely Planet's Thorntree Forums and came across some desperate soul trying to pimp his cause on there, and I followed the link...

If nothing else, the website confirms that there are some VERY strange (and delusional) people on the planet. There are 8000 applicants so far and my computer is old and crappy so here are just a few...

Susan I think my Nanna would vote for her. Feed the fish???!!!

Helen for the glamour shot she chose as her avatar alone. Did she not realise the selection panel would also watch the video?

A few were quite good - in terms of technical aspects. Haven't posted them here because we only want to see the outlandish ones, right?? What I don't understand is why so many people thought they had to use the 1 minute to educate the Queensland Tourism Board on the island, the Great Barrier Reef and Australia...just in case they don't know or...?

Like this guy. (What the hell, he was born in 1770??)

Okay, until the last 2 seconds I was voting for this guy! Maybe not Hamilton Island but surely there's another island somewhere that needs a policeman? He's not like the ones on The Bill.

Help! Help! Do you think this guy has family voting for him?? "I am jobless...I want to spend six months on this island to make-a the tax" He's in the top 3 based on popularity!

Ugh. I can't watch any more, but it's brilliant marketing. I don't even want to visit the Whitsundays, yet I found myself suddenly longing for the job (only for a nanosecond...now if it had been a SCOTTISH island seeking a Caretaker you'd be laughing hysterically at my application video right now :)

Happy Post

Have just scrolled through my (very) long list of other bloggers and revisited all of them to catch up on what they are doing (twas like catching up with old friends...even tho most of them don't even know who I am!). Also to get a wee bit more inspiration for my own blog...just like getting out of bed, it's been a little hard lately to keep motivated. The whole reason for starting the wretched thing was to share our travel stories with the world but alas, we are still sitting HERE so it's just not that exciting.

But...happy thoughts!

One blog of which I am particularly fond is silversprite. I guess because they pretty much embody my Ideal Life: living on a remote Hebridean island, working as a librarian as well as having a web based consultancy business...>sigh<>

All this is rather fitting as I am trying, desperately trying to apply for a teacher-librarian position down south (actually not that far...and not on the coast, which I am craving, but still - it's part-time and at this point in the quest for employment, why the hell not??)

I am the original bookworm. Bugger teaching, I should've studied to be a librarian in the first place. The only part I'm not sure I'll like is the cataloguing, but I did realise tonight whilst walking (first time in MONTHS but more on that another time) that the school librarian does not have to do school reports, they have very few classes for which they have to prepare (and even then the lessons are mostly the same thing "How To Use The Library") and discipline is not such a big deal because they don't see the students that often, the work is usually assignment based (at least in secondary) or fun (primary) and they get to choose new books to buy...

Not that I'm trying to be lazy and get out of the hard work of teaching...I just don't have the heart for it ... I hesitate to say "anymore". It might come back, but at present I do not have the zest required to teach full-time. The silliest things completely debilitate me. Plus I don't look into the future and see myself marking reports and sitting up stressing over difficult classes, rushing to staff meetings, coaching a sporting team, none of these things feature...

The Dream :) Haha...reality!

Recruitment Agencies

Whilst I'm here I may as well rant on these as well!


I signed up with Select Education (also called Teach Anywhere) because they appeared to be the only agency operating for international/expat schools. They also seemed to be the only place even advertising these jobs - there's no website called "International school jobs dot com" - so Select were my only option.


Somehow I got 'stuck' with a recruiter who couldn't give a rats arse about me. I'm pretty sure I've already ranted and raved about how she wouldn't respond to my emails until I wrote to another recruiter. Well, I've tried to escape her clutches and sign myself up to another Select recruiter again but instead they keep forwarding me back to her. I got excited when I saw they were advertising what looked like her position for a January start (I even thought that perhaps this might be the reason she was so unwilling to put any effort into finding jobs for me) but so far she hasn't gone away.


I stumbled across another agency: Teacher Appointments based in Brisbane. This is a much smaller operation and were initially a lot more friendly and interested in where I was coming from and what my goals were (as opposed to Select who nod and smile through the initial phone call then proceed to send you just about every irrelevant and out of the question teaching positions they can find!). However, as this recruiter was handling the China job that I could not accept, once I emailed the school to negotiate fewer hours, they readvertised and the recruiter disappeared into thin air.


Hays...well, don't even get me started! They didn't even start. I emailed the contact (someone called Olivia) a few times without response. Eventually I think I signed up on the website or sent a CV or something and she got back to me. Now, she was and still is, advertising teaching positions in Asia with ONE YEAR CONTRACT written all over them. Yet, when I told her I was interested in a one year contract she dropped me like a hot coal. Please explain?


SANZA: I thought they only dealt with jobs in the UK but noticed in my extensive trawling through the jobs pages that they also had jobs in New Zealand and some in Asia. I signed up. I got a phone call from a very nice girl called Karen, who told me she'd look into NZ and Asia for me (I told her I was interested in ANYTHING in either location) and get back to me. She phoned back to ask if I'd consider the Middle East (no I already had and decided against it) and then a few days later sent me an email saying they had nothing to suit and please get back in touch (in a few YEARS) when I was looking for work in the UK. Hmm...NOT BLOODY LIKELY. What the hell???? So although they are still advertising all these jobs, they don't want to fill them? Instead of keeping me on and letting me know if anything came up, like EVERY other recruiter, they just ditch me???


And at the end of all this, bloody Timeplan send me an email asking if I know of anyone who might be interested in the position of Australian coordinator in their London office. Well, SURE I DO! I would be interested in the position but I am cursed with a bloody Australian birth certificate and can't live there, so I can't do it.


I have had just about enough of this shite.

Nothing

Still nothing. We are just sitting here, bored out of our skulls.

Worked a little over the holidays as a study tour teacher. Discovered pretty quickly that it was nothing I imagined it would be...or at least the children weren't (um, how do I say this? Spoilt, pampered little pets comes to mind!) I should have realised that the students who would end up in learning English in Australia over the summer holidays would be the wealthier ones. At least I know now what NOT to teach.

On the other job front: give me strength!

We are still treading water, going nowhere. Another January, another birthday and I am still sitting here. It is enough to drive you to drink...rejection after rejection after rejection! I don't know what it is about this time of year: perhaps because it's Christmas and spending so much time with family (wanting to know what my plans are and whether I've given up on Scotland yet), or my birthday (another year older, still don't feel any closer to where I want to be)?

I did have a job lined up in China. It was in a kindergarten - not an international/expat school. This meant the pay was lower, but I thought it would balance out as the workload expectations would also be lower (which seemed to be the norm looking at similar jobs). Then the school sent me their contract outlining 40 hours + contact per a week, with additional Saturdays from time to time! Tried to negotiate. They readvertised.

I started packing boxes with things anyway, and dusted off my backpack. Nutcase...eternal optimist? I'll leave that up to you!